NEWS & NOTES : NOTH `LAW & ORDER' FILMS DUE.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

If all goes according to plan, Chris Noth, who left NBC's ``Law & Order'' in 1995, is expected to reprise his role of Detective Mike Logan in a series of TV movies.

``Law & Order'' creator Dick Wolf, Universal Television and NBC are developing the series of occasional movies around the character. The films could air next season.

In the films, on the drawing board for a while now, Logan will have been reassigned to Staten Island after punching a city councilman.

An NBC spokesman confirmed that the movies are in development, but said they haven't yet gotten the go-ahead from NBC brass.

A script for the first one is being written now, according to a spokesman for Universal.

Noth left ``Law & Order'' after the 1994-95 season. At the time, Wolf said the change was being made in order to bring in a younger star (Noth was replaced by Benjamin Bratt) and to add some new chemistry to the program. Also, Noth would have been in line for a steep pay increase had he been retained.

So far, it appears no other past ``Law & Order'' stars will be in the films.

WB's numbers improve: This week's introduction of the new Tuesday combo of ``Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ``Dawson's Creek'' gave the WB network its highest-ever night of Nielsen numbers.

`Party' and `Others':

Fox will premiere ``Significant Others,'' the newest drama from ``Party of Five'' creators Christopher Keyser and Amy Lippman, on March 11. The series, which focuses on a group of Los Angeles friends in their mid-20s, will fill the ``Party of Five'' time slot at 9 p.m. Wednesday for six weeks before the veteran series returns with new episodes April 22. ``Party'' will temporarily sign off with an emotional cliffhanger March 4.

Good grief, Charlie Brown: The Nickelodeon cable network says that it has acquired 63 ``Peanuts'' cartoon specials, including a series originally televised in the 1970s called ``Snoopy and Charlie Brown.''